Temple of Deir el-Medina

Arriving at the Temple of Deir el-Medina means that you are in the heart of this ancient Egyptian village of the artisans who worked on the royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, and the funerary temples.

The land of those creative ancient Egyptian artisans who had done these pharaonic marvels.

You will wander amid these pharaonic streets, more than 70 well-preserved houses, a court, a temple, tombs of the workers, and even more. All still in their same condition since the 18th to 20th Dynasties of the New Kingdom of Egypt (ca. 1550–1080 BC).

Some of these one-floor or two-floor pharaonic houses include ancient Egyptian furniture, kitchen tools, and other items from those ancient Egyptian families’ daily lives.

In Deir el-Medina, it means that for the ancient Egyptians, you are in the “Place of Truth.” While visiting the houses in these spots means that you are amid the homes of the servants in the Place of Truth.

In this life spot, you will forget that you are from this current time. Since you will feel as if you are an ancient Egyptian. It is the magic of Deir el-Medina that was discovered from 1905 to 1911, and the full outstanding discovery for the city was in 1922.

Do not miss to experience the same excitement that the discoverers lived.

Temple of Deir al-Medina Location: How Can I Arrive at the Deir el-Medina?! 

Deir el-Medina is located on the western side of the Nile in Luxor. 

It was the first time allowed to build houses on the western side. It was strictly forbidden to do so, but with the digging of the Valley of the Kings, it was difficult for workers to cross daily from east to west. So, they were given permission to build houses on the western side of the Nile.

At the beginning, it was forbidden for the worker to take his family to this village. But some workers began to run away to the east side to see their families. That was why it became available for them to bring their families to Deir el-Medina.

The site is placed on the western side of Hatshepsut Temple, Ramsuim Temple, and the Valley of the Kings in the Gourna mountain. So, you will cross through these historical attractions made by those workers’ hands while going ahead to Deir el-Medina, where they lived.

It is your right to immerse yourself amid ancient Egypt’s life. That is what you will gain from visiting Deir el-Medina.

Arriving at Deir el-Medina can be by a domestic flight from any spot in Egypt to Luxor’s Airport or by an international flight from any spot on the globe to Luxor’s Airport.

A sleeping train from Cairo is also a cozy transfer to Luxor. Cutting the road from any spot in Luxor to the west side of Luxor’s Nile Bank will be with a vehicle.

With a local expert tour agency like Golavita, guarantee the top-class transfers from any spot in the world with affordable prices, relishing one of the latest A/C vehicles driven by expert licensed drivers to the site.

Facts About Deir el-Medina, Including Secrets About the Valley of the Kings 

The ancient Egyptian workers were throwing small stones in the wells inside Deir el-Medina.

These stones are carved with inscriptions telling all about their daily life details, including their problems, private life events, working time details, social life, their needs, and even more.

Some of these details are about the working system inside the Valley of the Kings, including how many builders did share in building one royal tomb?! How many years did it take to carve just one tomb? What about the groups they were divided into to work in the Valley of the Kings?! 

These stones say that the ancient Egyptian workers were divided into three groups in the royal tomb: the muscle group for carving the tomb and carrying the bricks out of the site, the second group who was plastering the walls, and the third group carved the inscriptions on the walls.

The pharaonic inscriptions in this site claim that around 700 workers shared in building the tomb.

Those workers begin to dig the royal tomb from the first minute the king assumed the power, even 70 days after his death! 

These thousands of bricks were carved with the creative ideas of those artisans, which provides valuable information about the Valley of the Kings.

Also, one of those well-preserved 70 houses is for a pharaonic writer who narrated all about the facts of those workers.

One of these facts is this first peaceful revolution in history against King Ramesses III!

The government did not provide the workers with food and drink and did not give them their rights; the workers went on strike and stood around the state warehouses, chanting that they were hungry.

The revolution increased during the reign of Ramesses 9 and 10. 

The place was known as Deir el-Medina because Christians in the Roman era, due to persecution, went there and built a monastery.

Monuments in the Deir el-Medina 

The site is divided into three parts: the first is for the pharaonic houses of the royal tomb builders; the second is the Temple of Hathor that was built during the Ptolemaic era; and the third is for the tombs of those workers that show a verse of architectural dazzlement. 

You can visit these tombs from inside, and having an expert Egyptologist by your side like Golavita will help you to arrive at the best tombs ever, like Sin Njem TT 1. Among the most beautiful tombs there are Parchedo TT 3, Amun Nakht TT 210, and Khoy TT 361. 

That will be with a detailed explanation of all the drawings and the most important messages inside each tomb, and everything that happened in that area, to make you feel as if you are in a time gap that took you to the heart of ancient Egypt.